Books Are Sexy

One of the greatest (at least in my opinion) types of tattoos are quotes or passages from books or poetry or even lines from films. If these words made you feel a certain way or expressed something that you were truly about or believed in, I’ve always felt that the written word looks great as a tattoo. Again, I may be biased seeing as I am one of those people who has such tattoos, but that’s just how I roll. If you can get past the annoyance factor of complete strangers coming up to you to ask you what your tattoos mean or say, then it’s one of the most perfect ways to sum up who you are.

Another thing that I like about these sorts of tattoos is that you don’t see a lot of them around and so they’re a little more original and personal than getting a barbed wire arm band inked around your bicep, or the kanji character for “strength”, or “determination” or any other overused noun or adjective tattooed on to your shoulder.

Recently however, I found out about contrariwise, a website that showcases literary tattoos from different people all around the world. I was quite surprised to know how many people actually put the words of their favourite authors and books on their skin. One dude even went as far as putting an entire monologue from Fight Club on his back. Even Harry Potter’s legacy has found his way onto people’s backs and shoulders. Not my cup of tea, but hey, it still looks pretty cool. If you do like the look of these sorts of tattoos and have a favourite book or author’s words you want to immortalize on your body, don’t forget the single most important rule about literary tattoos: be completely certain that the quote or passage you are getting done on your body is SPELLED correctly. Nothing ruins a tattoo more and makes you look like more of a total knob than having a misspelled tattoo. Check out the section on exactly that right here.